By now, we can safely say that the known phase of
the programmed liquidation of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has
successfully been carried out by the Nigerian Army. The September 10 sting
operation in Umuahia has pushed the agitators to the backwaters. They have gone
underground and no one seems to know what the group may have up its sleeves in
the days to come.

An interesting outcome of the assault on IPOB is the
excited discourse around Nnamdi Kanu. His emergence as the arrowhead of the
quest for Biafra signposted a significant turning point in the struggle. The
young man’s approach was brusque. He had no room for niceties. He was
unapologetic in every sense of the word. He loathed everyone and everything
that was anti-Biafra. He knew how best to throw brickbats and he did not spare
anyone that crossed his path. Many held him in awe for good reasons. He had the
courage of his convictions. But beyond that, he had an enchanting hold on his
flock. He recognised no sacred cow and breathed down on anybody known or
perceived to be an enemy of the cause that he was fighting for. His language
was intemperate and acerbic. He was something of a tin god, who feared neither
man nor spirit. No one seemed to know the source of his powers. Many of those
who were at the receiving end of his vitriolic excesses were scared stiff. They
could not join issues with him.

However, those who were tongue-tied over Kanu before
the Umuahia operation have had their lips loosened up. They appear to have been
rescued by the army. The invasion of Kanu’s home in Umuahia and the consequent
bloodbath have sent Kanu out of the scene. He has not been heard or seen since
the military assault on the defenceless agitators. It is not even certain
whether he is alive or dead. His absence seems to have opened a floodgate of
criticisms. Those who could not speak out against him all this while have
stepped out of their closet. They are denouncing Kanu as if they just
encountered him. The mystique around him seems to have been shattered and the
lily-livered are having a field day. But that is hardly surprising. It is in
the nature of man to hanker after the fair weather. Kanu’s habitation seems to
be tormented at the moment and many are not prepared to tread the inclement
path with him.

If we leave Kanu momentarily, we will be saddled
with the barbarism that took place in Umuahia on 10th of September. On that
day, unarmed young men and women were massacred in their numbers in Kanu’s
home. The incident was supposed to cause an outrage. But a good number of those
who are supposed to make an issue out of it have chosen to bury their head in
the sand. Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, who is supposed to be the chief security
officer of Abia State, was thrown into blue funk by the bloodbath. His
confusion was evident. His immediate reaction was that the incident “could
presumably be attributed to the commencement of Operation Python Dance II.” I
am still at a loss as to why the governor did not recognise the fact that the
killing of the IPOB members had nothing to do with the python dance, which was
scheduled to commence five days before the cold-blooded massacre of the unarmed
agitators. Even if the massacre was occasioned by the commencement of the
python dance, was that supposed to be the objective of the exercise? Is the
operation about mindless massacres and cold-blooded killings?

Much more regrettable is the fact that Okezie’s
complacency and inaction was complemented by his fellow South East governors.
They met over the Umuahia killings and all they could say was that IPOB had
been banned in the zone. They said nothing about the massacre that took place.
Lt. Gen. Buratai’s army of occupation intimidated them into submission. In the
final analysis, Okezie and his fellow South East governors did not show
leadership in this matter. They failed the people.

The cowardly response from South East governors,
unfortunately, set the tone for what was to follow. Since the Umuahia massacre,
everyone has been talking about Kanu. They have been focusing on what he did or
did not do. No one is talking about the massacre. The killing of defenceless
civilians has been conveniently ignored by everyone. There is no outrage. There
is no condemnation. Even worse is the fact that the Senate of the Federal
Republic has followed suit. After a seven-week recess, the senate reconvened
and all that they could tell us was that the unity of the country is not
negotiable. If that was the most important thing they wanted to tell Nigerians,
they should have simply kept quiet. We have heard all the talk about a
non-negotiable Nigeria ad nauseam. It has become too jaded to form the focus of
any message to the nation. President Buhari’s recent reference to it did not
excite anyone. In the same vein, the senate has failed to excite us.

But it is much more tragic that it did not say
anything about the Umuahia massacre.

It is on the strength of the fact that Nigeria and
the world looked the other way over the Umuahia killings that the army and the
Federal Government had to go a step further by declaring IPOB a terrorist
organisation. It was so easy for them to do so even when IPOB has no weapons to
hurt a fly. If we square this up with the rigours that Nigeria went through
before Boko Haram could be labelled a terrorist group, we would begin to wonder
when it became easy for an organisation to be so called. Even though Boko Haram
visited Nigeria with the level of terrror that was never known in the history
of the country, neither our home government nor concerned foreign governments
was prepared to call it a terrorist organisation. The Jonathan presidency even
went further to fight against any move that would place the terrorist tag on
Boko Haram.

Government’s argument then was that if Boko Haram
were labelled a terrorist group, the unsavoury tag would affect every Nigerian
travelling abroad, particularly to the United States. It took a whole lot
before the United States government reluctantly enrolled Boko Haram as a
terrorist organisation, despite its manifest links with Al Qaeda. But all that
has changed. Terrorism has become a word to toy with to the extent that a
non-violent body can be forced to wear the tag. What an absurdity.

But we know the undercurrent of this whole game. It
is an attempt to give the dog a bad name in order to hang it. By declaring IPOB
a terrorist group, government set out to achieve one aim. It wants to drive the
agitators out of the streets so that their quest for their dream republic will
become ineffectual. The assumption here is that if these agitators are no
longer seen, the wind would have been taken off their sail. But that is a very
simplistic way of looking at a situation as complex as the IPOB phenomenon.
IPOB members may no longer parade themselves in the streets since they do not
have arms to confront the army and the police, who are now hunting and hounding
them. If this should be the case, then the group is likely to change its
strategy. It may not be seen. But it may be heard loudly and clearly. If this
happens, government may have, unwittingly, created a new monster in IPOB."